Neflix has been back in Bath filming scenes for Persuasion, starring Dakota Johnson as Anne Elliot and directed by critically-acclaimed theatre director Carrie Cracknell.
When is Persuasion on Netflix?
Due to air on July 15, the film – considered by many to be Cracknell's finest piece of work - is based on Jane Austen’s sixth book, which was set in Bath and first published after her death in 1817.
Where in Bath was Persuasion filmed?
Bath Street
Bath Street features cobbled paving and striking lines of colonnades running down each side. At the bottom of Bath Street lies the Cross Baths and Thermae Bath Spa and this area is known as the Spa quarter of Bath where the water bubbles up from the springs at a temperature of 46 degrees.
Unadorned by shop signs and capturing 18th century Bath perfectly, Bath Street lends itself well to filming.
Hot Bath Street
Tucked behind the Cross Baths, Hot Bath Street is a paved lane that weaves through to Lower Borough Walls. Underneath the street is one of the Sacred Springs which feeds the Cross Baths.
Royal Crescent
One of Bath’s most iconic landmarks makes for an impressive backdrop for filming, so you will not miss it when it appears in Persuasion. The crescent – built between 1767 and 1775 - is arranged around a perfect lawn overlooking Royal Victoria Park and forms a sweeping crescent of 30 Grade I listed terraced houses.
Brock Street
Brock street connects two of Bath’s most prominent pieces of architecture – The Royal Crescent and The Circus and is lined with elegant Georgian townhouses.
Gravel Walk
The Gravel Walk is one of the city's most famous walks in Bath. Built in 1771, it is a wide gravel-covered walkway that links the Royal Crescent and the Circus with Queen Square which sits further down the hill.
Known as a Lover’s Lane in Jane Austen’s era, the path was a route for sedan chairs heading to and from the town centre. Gravel Walk is the setting for a love scene between Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth in the novel Persuasion.
Jane Austen Festival
The Jane Austen Festival in Bath is the largest and longest running Jane Austen Festival in the world. The first Jane Austen Festival in 2001 took place over a weekend at The Jane Austen Centre, Bath, and has since grown into a 10-day programme, drawing over 3500 people from around the world.
The festival begins with a Regency Costumed Promenade, which has been filling the streets of Bath with people in Regency dress since 2004 and holds the Guinness World Record for the ‘Largest gathering of people dressed in Regency costumes. Full of bonnets, soldiers, and drummers the backdrop of Georgian Bath transports visitors back to the time of Jane Austen.
The festival will be held from September 9-17 September.
Austen Fridays at No. 1 Royal Crescent
A new immersive experience looks at life in Regency Britain during the period 1970s – 1820, including when Austen was writing and for a time living in Bath.
Using the rooms of the house as inspiration, passages and conversations from Austen’s novels bring to life the activities that took place in such domestic spaces, as well as questioning the thoughts and feelings of the people who inhabited them.
It will take place on the last Friday of every month until October 2022. It costs £11 per adult, concessions available.
Sydney Gardens – the refurbishment of Jane Austen’s much-loved gardens
Situated behind The Holburne park, Sydney Gardens is the oldest park in Bath. It was planned and laid out by the architect Harcourt Masters in 1795 and throughout the end of the eighteenth and into the nineteenth century it was the popular place to see and be seen by the fashionable visitors to Bath.
Sydney Gardens was a favourite spot of Jane Austen who lived at number 4 Sydney Place, directly opposite. Recently the park has undergone an extensive landscaping project to rejuvenate the area.
A new children’s play area, tennis courts and community pavilion has been included in the development along with many areas of wildflower planting. Jane Austen’s much-loved park to be revitalised as a 21st Century pleasure garden.
